Written Answers Monday 7 March 2005

Scottish Executive

Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the operation of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 and what difficulties have been encountered since the act came into force.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive funded a two year project to monitor the implementation of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. This was carried out by Alzheimer Scotland – Action on Dementia, working in partnership with the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health. The project report was published on 28 October 2004. It highlighted that the act is yielding benefits – for instance, over 30,000 powers of attorney have been registered with the Public Guardian.

  The report also suggested that there are possible legislative, procedural and practice issues which may inhibit the full realisation of the objectives behind the legislation. The Executive has already addressed a number of issues, including agreeing in principle that free legal aid should be made available for welfare guardianship proceedings.

  I responded to the project report in a letter of 28 October 2004 to the Justice 2 Committee which can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1097/0005082.pdf. The letter describes work in hand and in prospect to facilitate effective implementation of this major piece of legislation. It contains a link to the project report itself.

  We are currently taking forward two changes to section 47 of the act. The legislative vehicle for making these amendments is the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill. The changes will extend the authority to grant a certificate under section 47(1) to health professionals other than "registered medical practitioners", provided they have received relevant training and to extend the maximum duration of a section 47 certificate from one year to three years. We hope these changes will not only reduce the workload on doctors but also ensure that all patients, regardless of whether or not they can consent, are afforded the same level and quality of treatment.

Agriculture

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many delayed subsidy payments to farmers are outstanding in Aberdeenshire.

Ross Finnie: There are 20 Common Agriculture Policy subsidy payments being processed outside the payment window, arising from farmers in Aberdeenshire. Of these, six are under the Arable Area Payment Scheme 2004, and 14 under the Sheep Annual Premium Scheme 2004. The payment window for the 2004 cattle schemes runs until 30 June.

  Recognising that some complex cases will arise, the European requirement is to process 96% of cases within the payment window and this target has been exceeded for both schemes.

Burial and Cremation

Mr Alasdair Morrison (Western Isles) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the review of the legislation governing burial and cremation is expected.

Mr Andy Kerr: The review is currently underway. The review group is holding its first meeting today, with a membership assembled from relevant interests. The group is chaired by Mr Robert Brodie CB, and its remit is:

  "To review the Cremation Acts of 1902 and 1952 (and the Cremation (Scotland) Regulations 1935, as amended) and the Burial Grounds (Scotland) Act 1855 as amended, and to make recommendations on how the legislation could be changed in order to better serve the needs of the people of Scotland. This would, where appropriate, recognise the established role of the Procurator Fiscal Service, and take account of policy developments in England (specifically the Shipman Inquiry’s work on death certification) and international good practice."

Community Wardens

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-29389 by Ms Margaret Curran on 1 October 2002, whether neighbourhood wardens have had an impact on poverty.

Hugh Henry: Scottish Executive funding has enabled councils and their partners to set up community warden schemes throughout Scotland which are now helping to deal with many of the problems faced by deprived neighbourhoods. The impact of these schemes is being assessed through a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme. Earlier pilot schemes have shown a positive impact on factors such as vandalism and fear of crime. Wardens are contributing to closing the opportunity gap by improving the quality of life in deprived neighbourhoods.

Concessionary Travel

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have concessionary travel cards in each local authority area in the north east, broken down by type.

Nicol Stephen: The information is not held centrally. Responsibility for the issue and maintenance of travel concession cards currently lies with the managers of the concessionary travel schemes. Currently, all concessionary travel schemes are the responsibility of the local authorities.

Concessionary Travel

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support will be given to people who qualify for concessionary travel but do not have access to regular local public transport.

Nicol Stephen: To date, the Scottish Executive has provided £12.8 million to 162 transport projects through its Rural Community Transport Initiative, Urban Community Transport Initiative and Rural Demand Responsive Transport Scheme to help support transport services for people who do not have access to regular public transport. Types of services supported include community minibuses, voluntary car schemes and dial-a-ride which provide door-to-door transport. These services are of particular benefit to elderly and disabled people, enabling them to be included in rural and urban community life and reducing their isolation.

  Local authorities are able to include community transport services in their concessionary fares schemes. They can also run taxicard schemes to help people who cannot use conventional public transport.

  Finally, the Scottish Executive is currently carrying out research to look at the transport needs of disabled people, collate information on their travel patterns, identify travel priorities, investigate barriers to using public transport and assess the impact of concessionary fares.

Crime

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated size of the gap is between the number of reported assaults in (a) Glasgow, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland and the actual number that took place in the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information comparing the number of assaults experienced by people in Scotland; the numbers reported by them to the police, and the numbers recorded by the police is published in Appendix Table A4.1 of The 2000 Scottish Crime Survey: Overview Report and Appendix Table A4.1 of Scottish Crime Survey 2003 , copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 20953 and 34818). Figures in these tables refer to 1999 and 2002 respectively. As the Scottish Crime Survey (SCS) was not an annual survey, information is not available for 2000, 2001 or 2003. The SCS does not provide figures below national level.

Dentistry

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13939 by Rhona Brankin on 10 February 2005, why data on the number of NHS dentists at 31 December 2004 is not available centrally whereas data on the number of NHS dentists at 31 December 2003 was made available in the answer to question S2W-5720 by Mr Tom McCabe on 6 February 2004.

Rhona Brankin: ISD Scotland now co-ordinate the publication of data on all NHS dentistry, both hospital and community health service (HCHS) and general dental service (GDS) dentists, at 30 September each year. Data as at 30 September 2004 for both HCHS and GDS dentists was used within the answer to question S2W-13939.

  In question S2W-5720, Table 1 related to the number of all NHS dentists. In the notes, under 6, it is clarified that data for hospital and community health service (HCHS) dentists was correct as at 30 September 2002. At the time that this parliamentary question was answered, data on GDS dentists was available as at 31 December 2003, clarified under note 5.

Dyslexia

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is given to students with dyslexia in further and higher education courses.

Mr Jim Wallace: Students with dyslexia in further and higher education courses may receive both practical and financial help. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires institutions to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that students with disabilities are not placed at a substantial disadvantage. The support needs of individual students will vary and institutions strive to provide the most appropriate support to meet those needs.

  Disabled students in further education who have extra costs arising from their attendance at college may apply for additional support towards study and travel-related expenses (an Additional Support Needs for Learning Allowance) as part of their bursary application. All further education student support is discretionary and is administered by colleges on an individual basis, taking account of the Scottish Funding Council’s Bursary Policy.

  Eligible higher education students who incur additional expenses whilst undertaking their course because of their disability are eligible to apply for additional support in the form of the non means-tested Disabled Students’ Allowance.

Education

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider providing funding to local authorities to run similar projects to the Debates Outreach Project being run in North Lanarkshire by the English-Speaking Union Scotland.

Euan Robson: The Scottish Executive is committed to providing more out of school hours opportunities across a wide range of activities including debating to help young people develop their skills and confidence. We have allocated funding to local authorities under the Study Support programme since 1999 and have committed £12 million this year. It is for local authorities to determine, in the light of local needs and circumstances, what activities should be provided from the available funding.

Environment

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of emissions of (a) greenhouse gas and (b) carbon dioxide come from all buildings in Scotland.

Ross Finnie: The information requested is not held centrally. However, Scottish greenhouse gas emissions data is available in Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1999-2002,  a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34590) and is also available on the Executive’s climate change website at www.scotland.gov.uk/climatechange . The inventory presents emissions data by source but does not allocate emissions to buildings in Scotland.

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure compliance with Convention rights by public bodies.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive distributed a considerable amount of guidance to public bodies in advance of the Human Rights Act 1998 coming into force in October 2000. Scottish Executive Departments wrote to public bodies in early 2000 to make sure public bodies were aware of the legislation and its potential impact and to recommend that they check that their policies and practices complied with Convention rights.

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it could be liable for any breach of Convention rights by a public body.

Hugh Henry: All public bodies are bound to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights under the terms of the Human Rights Act 1998. Public bodies are responsible for ensuring their own compliance with the act, and the Scottish Executive would itself not be liable for any breach by another public body.

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a duty to ensure that Convention rights are protected for individuals in Scotland who are not regarded as being ordinarily resident in Scotland.

Hugh Henry: The obligation placed on the Scottish Executive and other public bodies to comply with Convention rights in areas for which they responsible applies to everyone in Scotland regardless of their nationality or residence. The obligation placed on the Scottish Executive only extends to compliance of the Convention in relation to matters within the devolved competence of the Scottish Parliament.

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of physical restraints on an individual undergoing medical treatment would be a breach of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Hugh Henry: Article 3 contains no explicit prohibition on use of restraints in specific circumstances. Any claim that an individual’s rights under article 3 have been breached would be for a court to determine in the circumstances of that particular case.

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether section 100 of the Scotland Act 1998 imposes a duty on it to ensure that the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights are not breached in Scotland.

Hugh Henry: Section 100 of the Scotland Act does not impose such a duty. The purpose of this section is to ensure that, so far as possible, there is compatibility between the Scotland Act and the Human Rights Act 1998 with regard to who would have title and interest to bring proceedings on the ground that an act of a member of the Scottish Executive is incompatible with the Convention rights and the amount of damages which may be awarded if such an act is incompatible.

  This section provides that the only persons, apart from the Law Officers, who can bring proceedings on the ground that an act of a member of the Scottish Executive is incompatible with Convention rights or rely on Convention rights in proceedings are victims for the purposes of Article 34 of the Convention. This is similar to what is provided by section 7(1) of the Human Rights Act 1998. Article 34 requires applications to the European Court of Human Rights to be from "any person, non-governmental organisation or groups of individuals claiming to be a victim of a violation of a Convention right."

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 obliges it to act to prevent breaches of Convention rights.

Hugh Henry: Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 makes it unlawful for public authorities, including the Scottish Executive, to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right. It therefore places a legal obligation on the Scottish Executive not to act in such a way, but that obligation only applies in respect of the Executive’s own acts and does not oblige the Executive to prevent actions by third parties.

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who has general responsibility for ensuring compliance in Scotland with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Hugh Henry: The courts are responsible for enforcing compliance with Convention rights. Under the terms of the Human Rights Act 1998, all public authorities are required to act in a way that complies with the European Convention on Human Rights. Individuals whose rights have been breached by a public authority can take their case before the Scottish courts and ultimately to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

  In addition, under the terms of the Scotland Act, the Scottish Parliament and Executive are bound to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. If they do not comply, and if a Scottish court upholds a challenge, actions of the Scottish ministers and the Scottish Parliament can be struck down as being unlawful.

European Funding

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what objections were made by the EC auditor to the management of 14 projects in the Highlands and Islands funded by the European Regional Development Fund between 1994 and 1999.

Allan Wilson: The draft report did not refer to the management of projects in operational terms. Concerns related largely to the absence of supporting documentation at the time of the visit, and since provided as part of the Executive’s response to the draft report.

Family Mediation

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to Family Mediation Scotland in each financial year since 1999.

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to Couple Counselling Scotland in each financial year since 1999.

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to Scottish Marriage Care in each financial year since 1999.

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to Stepfamily Scotland in each financial year since 1999.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive funds four national family relationship support organisations in the voluntary sector – Family Mediation Scotland, Couple Counselling Scotland, Scottish Marriage Care and Stepfamily Scotland - under Section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. The resources are allocated through the Children, Young People and Families Unified Voluntary Sector Fund. All four bodies also receive grant assistance under Section 9 of Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 for training purposes. The table sets out grant allocations since 2000-01.

  

 
Family Mediation Scotland
(£)
Couple Counselling Scotland
(£)
Scottish Marriage Care
(£)
Stepfamily Scotland
(£)


2000-01 S10
86,149
162,903
58,136
34,703


S9
25,750
29,202
13,000
5,800


2001-02 S10
144,239
234,203
59,880
30,900


S9
26,523
31,721
13,000
5,974


2002-03 S10
141,271
232,583
65,563
44,827


S9
35,000
32,673
15,000
6,153


2003-04 S10
172,053
276,830
104,218
32,623


S9
35,875
33,490
15,375
6,307


2004-05* S10
183,9991
317,0832
163,0933
46,5874


S9
36,772
34,327
15,759
6,465



  Notes:

  *Further funding to assist four national family organisations to provide a more integrated service has been made available this year and next. In 2004-05:

  1. includes over £46,000 of this funding.

  2. includes over £65,000 of this funding.

  3. includes over £68,000 of this funding.

  4. includes over £13,000 of this funding.

Foster Care

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the rates of foster care allowances are, broken down by local authority.

Euan Robson: Local authorities set the rates of foster care allowance based on local circumstances and the needs of the children and young people that are looked after. The information requested is not held centrally.

Foster Care

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to standardise the foster care allowance paid by local authorities.

Euan Robson: No. However, we are providing £12 million over two years to enable local authorities to improve recruitment and retention of foster carers. We hope many of them will take this opportunity to increase the allowances they pay.

G8 Summit

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific discussions it has had with the Security Service, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Stirling Council about additional policing resources required to ensure that the G8 summit does not have a negative impact on the city of Stirling.

Cathy Jamieson: Decisions about the policing resources for Stirling at the time of the G8 summit are a matter for the Chief Constable of Central Scotland Police. The Executive is in regular touch with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Police and others about preparations for the summit and has also been in contact with Stirling Council and the Security Service.

Justice

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12959 by Tavish Scott on 28 January 2005, what its policy is in relation to provisions to allow criminal convictions on the evidence of a single witness, in particular what criteria it uses to determine to which offences such provisions should apply, and whether the single witness provisions of the Game (Scotland) Act 1832 are consistent with this policy.

Tavish Scott: The Law of Scotland provides that no person can be convicted of a crime or statutory offence unless there is evidence of at least two witnesses implicating the person accused with the crime or offence with which he is charged. The rule does not require every circumstance of the crime or offence with which the accused is charged to be proved by two witnesses. The basic requirement is that the crucial features of the crime or offence, namely that the crime or offence was committed and that it was committed by the accused must be established by evidence from at least two sources.

  There are, however, several Acts of Parliament which provide that persons accused of contravening their provisions may be convicted on the evidence of one credible witness. These include the Game (Scotland) Act 1832 Act. In those circumstances it was thought at the time the offence was created that the public interest was best served by waiving the usual rules of corroboration. There are a number of more modern Acts where a similar conclusion has been reached, for example section 21 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.

  On each occasion where consideration is being given to disapplying the normal rules of corroboration, it is for those responsible for the introduction of the statute to demonstrate why it is in the public interest that this should be done. There is no set list of criteria as the public interest will have to be considered in the particular circumstances concerned.

  Any review of the Game (Scotland) Act 1832 will provide an opportunity to examine the continuing requirement for this waiver.

Justice

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the method of collecting outstanding fines.

Cathy Jamieson: In addition to the wide range of existing measures available to the courts to enforce or encourage the payment of fines, the Executive is piloting new provisions in relation to Supervised Attendance Orders to encourage greater use of the order as an alternative to custody for those who are unable to pay.

  The Summary Justice Review Committee considered fines enforcement as part of its wide-ranging report. It recommended strengthening a number of the existing measures for collecting fines and simplifying the number of organisations involved in the enforcement process. An independent analysis of the consultation responses was published on 28 February and can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/JD/CP/00019008/Homepage.aspx. Copies will also be made available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 35623). We are currently considering that analysis with a view to introducing reforms that will improve the operation of all aspects of the summary justice system, including the collection of outstanding fines.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what classes of person are entitled to use physical restraints such as handcuffs.

Cathy Jamieson: In certain types of employment, violent incidents feature as a regular and inevitable part of the work and there is a need to use physical restraint to prevent self-harm, violence to staff or property being damaged. Employment where restraint equipment is used includes police forces; prison and prisoner escort services; certain social care and mental health services; the Immigration Service; HM Customs and Excise, and the military. Airlines operating long-haul flights to and from UK airports also carry handcuffs or other forms of passenger restraint.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding the Constructs programme received annually in each year since its inception.

Cathy Jamieson: To date, £67,000 has been spent specifically on the work to bring Constructs up to accreditation standards. A further £500,000 per annum has been set aside to extend the provision of the Constructs programme, once it is accredited.

  Prior to this work, a number of local authorities, notably West Dunbartonshire which developed Constructs initially, have resourced the programme from within the funding allocation provided by the Scottish Executive for the delivery of criminal justice social work.

Livestock

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of poisoning by organophosphate sheep dip have occurred in each year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally. Expert advice is that it is difficult to establish diagnostic criteria for organophosphate poisoning, other than acute poisoning cases which are rare. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Other Health Related Problems does not provide the level of information required to specify if the poisoning was from sheep dip.

Livestock

Mr Andrew Arbuckle (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will deal with those cattle on farms that do not have a passport.

Ross Finnie: These cattle are registered on the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) database and issued with a Notice of Registration (NoR). These cattle can only be used for breeding purposes and milking if appropriate. Any properly registered offspring will be issued with cattle passports. In some cases the keeper will decide to destroy non-passported animals because they are of little economic value. This is regrettable, but the responsibility lies with the keeper to meet the EU deadline for registering cattle. NoR cattle are not allowed into the food chain and can only be moved under licence to be destroyed.

  Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department inspectors, as part of the Cattle Identification Inspection Regime, have a list of all NoR cattle from CTS and are inspecting holdings to ensure that any abuse is identified.

Police

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the grounds were on which it ruled out the TETRAPOL standard when choosing a new radio system for police forces.

Cathy Jamieson: The decision to use the TETRA technical standard in the procurement of a new communications system for the police was based on independent advice to the Home Office. That advice concluded that the TETRA standard was the only standard to meet the needs of the police service.

Police

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what exchanging capabilities mm02 is contracted to supply to police forces following the roll-out of the TETRA network.

Cathy Jamieson: The term "exchanging capabilities" is not used to describe any of the services provided by O2 to the police.

Police

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any acceptable alternatives to the TETRA network are available to the police.

Cathy Jamieson: The TETRA standard is the only technology which currently meets the requirements of the police. Airwave provides, for example, encrypted communication and a very high standard of voice clarity and coverage.

Police

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it envisages supplementing the police’s TETRA network with GPRS technology.

Cathy Jamieson: The TETRA system does not support General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). It does, however, support a data transfer service which is similar to GPRS.

Police

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether TETRA will provide the police with access to databases and administrative functions such as filing a report in real time.

Cathy Jamieson: TETRA currently supports access to the Scottish Criminal Record Office criminal history system and the Police National Computer for person and vehicle checks. It does not at present support administrative functions such as filing reports.

Police

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed by each police force, broken down by (a) gender, (b) ethnic origin, (c) disability and (d) grade.

Cathy Jamieson: Information is not held centrally on disability or breakdown by ethnic origin. The latest information available on ethnic minority numbers is for 2003-04 from the Annual Statistical Return from forces to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and the figures below (which are on a head count basis) are from this source.

  Number of Police Officers by Gender

  

Force
Male
Female
Total


Central 
625
140
765


Dumfries and Galloway
390
102
492


Fife
791
196
987


Grampian
1,020
281
1,301


Lothian and Borders
2,284
509
2,793


Northern
553
133
686


Strathclyde
6,052
1,502
7,554


Tayside
921
246
1,167


Total
12,636
3,109
15,745



  Number Of Ethnic Minority* Police Officers

  

Force
Ethnic Minority


Central 
3


Dumfries and Galloway
1


Fife
4


Grampian
3


Lothian and Borders
30


Northern
2


Strathclyde
136


Tayside
6


Total
185



  Number of Police Officers by Rank

  

Force
Chief Officers
Chief Supt/
Superintendent
Chief Insp/
Inspector
Sergeant
Constable
Total


Central 
3
11
59
113
579
765


Dumfries and Galloway
2
6
35
80
369
492


Fife
4
13
66
128
776
987


Grampian
3
20
101
205
972
1,301


Lothian and Borders
4
37
192
399
2,161
2,793


Northern
2
8
52
116
508
686


Strathclyde
7
102
523
1,018
5,904
7,554


Tayside
3
14
73
162
915
1,167


Total
28
211
1,101
2,221
12,184
15,745



  Number of Police Support Staff by Gender

  

Force
Male
Female
Total


Central 
142
159
301


Dumfries and Galloway
97
213
310


Fife
157
266
423


Grampian
219
513
732


Lothian and Borders
502
736
1,238


Northern
124
221
345


Strathclyde
934
1,623
2,566


Tayside
217
374
591


Total
2,392
4,105
6,506



  Number of Ethnic Minority* Support Staff

  

Force
Ethnic Minority


Central 
6


Dumfries and Galloway
0


Fife
6


Grampian
5


Lothian and Borders
12


Northern
1


Strathclyde
21


Tayside
4


Total
55



  Number of Police Support Staff by Category

  

Force
Traffic Warden
Technical
Clerical
Total


Central 
22
69
210
301


Dumfries and Galloway
8
140
162
310


Fife
31
33
359
423


Grampian
39
190
503
732


Lothian and Borders
88
21
1,129
1,238


Northern
29
0
316
345


Strathclyde
67
145
2,354
2,566


Tayside
11
123
457
591


Total
295
721
5,490
6,506



  *Note: ethnic minority staff are those who describe their ethnic origin as other than "white".

Rail Network

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to develop rail links between Ayrshire and Edinburgh.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive is always prepared to consider well developed proposals to improve Scotland’s railway system. Proposals should be operationally viable, offer value for money and accord with the Executive’s wider strategic objectives. The Executive is supporting a number of projects that offer opportunities to improve rail linkage between Ayrshire, Glasgow and Edinburgh. These include increased investment under the First ScotRail franchise, possible capacity relief on the Ayrshire lines as a result of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link and the on-going Glasgow Crossrail feasibility study.

Rail Network

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the percentage of (a) the UK rail network and (b) UK train stations located in Scotland and what Scotland’s share of UK rail network funding would be were its allocation to be based on such percentages.

Nicol Stephen: Approximately 13% of the GB railway track and 14% of GB railway stations are located in Scotland.

  UK and Scottish ministers announced on 18 January 2005 a financial settlement of approximately £325 million to support the devolution of new powers in relation to railways to Scotland. Around £302 million of this financial settlement will fund Network Rail’s Operation, Maintenance and Renewal activities in Scotland.

  The calculation of Scotland’s share of GB rail network funding is based on a package of measures. One element is the Scottish share of the GB Regulatory Asset Base. There are a number of allocation methodologies which could be employed. The Office of Rail Regulation will make the final determination by the end of 2005. Based on that determination, the Scottish Executive will receive funding precisely sufficient to support the rail network in Scotland.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11099 by Patricia Ferguson on 1 November 2004, how many local authority playing fields have been in use since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Sport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11409 by Patricia Ferguson on 10 November 2004, what level of funding it has allocated to women’s and girls’ football in each year since 1999, broken down by year and detailing the funding sources.

Patricia Ferguson: Since 1999, women’s and girls’ football has benefited directly by the amounts set out in the following tables. As with other sports supported by the Executive through  sportscotland, no allocations are made. Funding is awarded against set programmes and applications received. Funding under the National Coach Support programme was awarded to support the appointment of Vera Pauw, who relinquished her post in 2004. Women’s and girls’ football will also have benefited from many other facility awards and the significant investment in initiatives such as Active Schools.

  Lottery Funding

  

Year
Junior Groups
National Coach Support
Awards for All
Talented Athlete Support


1999
0
0
26,372
66,000


2000
0
0
10,689
126,005


2001
0
0
9,122
90,978


2002
34,350
115,320
5,667
54,000


2003
25,000
0
18,299
92,809


2004
0
0
9,302
25,000


2005 to date
0
0
7,400
0



  Exchequer Funding

  

Year
Development Grant Aid
Sportsmatch


1999
18,000
3,500


2000
18,000
0


2001
18,000
3,800


2002
18,000
5,957


2003
28,500
6,290.80


2004
0
1,800

Transport

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what importance it places on improving transport links between major cities and rural areas.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive continues to promote a number of improvements to the trunk road network connecting major cities to rural areas and to work in partnership with local authorities, transport providers and others on a wide range of measures to improve transport links across Scotland.

Wildlife

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12958 by Tavish Scott on 20 January 2005, what correspondence or discussions, either formal or informal, it has had with the European Commission or the UK Government in relation to references to game birds in the DG Environment press releases on 29 January 2004 (IP/04/128) and 15 July 2004 (IP/04/933) and what legislative changes are required in Scotland to address these matters

Tavish Scott: Issues arising from legal action proposed by the European Commission against member states are confidential. Therefore no information can be provided at this time.